Peripheral giant cell lesion in a pediatric patient: case report

Abstract

Peripheral giant cell lesion is a non-neoplastic proliferative process that most commonly affects the mandible, with a predilection for women between 40 and 60 years of age. However, children can also be affected, rarely. This study reports a case of peripheral giant cell lesion in an 8-year-old child seen at a private dental school teaching clinic in Vitória da Conquista, Bahia, with a history of tooth extraction in the lesion area. Extraoral examination revealed nothing remarkable, but intraoral physical examination revealed an exophytic mass, bleeding to the touch, located in the posterior region of the left mandible, with imprecise boundaries. Imaging revealed nothing out of the ordinary. Therefore, an incisional biopsy was performed. The biopsy specimen was sent for pathological analysis, which was consistent with peripheral giant cell lesion. The established treatment was excisional biopsy, and follow-up was 1 year. Peripheral giant cell lesion is uncommon in the pediatric population but should be considered as one of the differential diagnoses in cases of gingival enlargement.

Keywords: Child. Peripheral giant cell lesion. Oral pathology. Oral medicine.